Flux

Flux

Show Me: The talk of Digital World this year isn't the show, it's the accompanying Interactive Media Festival, a gallery of 25 award-winning interactive works to be displayed June 6 to 8. In fact, many feel Digital World will have to prove it has not turned from visionary schmoozeathon into product-driven booth bonanza. (It is in LA, after all). Call +1(617) 494 8202 for more info.

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We'll get back to you on that: Remember when our Veep challenged the cable- and-telecom world to wire together US schools? You probably rolled your eyes. You were right. In a survey of twenty such companies, telecom regulator extraordinaire Rep. Ed Markey found just three that were willing to accept the challenge. "Enlightened self-interest" as social policy: Feh.

Speaking of Mr. Gore: No longer content with wiring the US, Al now has it in for the whole darn planet. Speaking to a UN conference in Buenos Aires earlier this year Gore envisioned a "planetary information network" that would create a "global information marketplace."

Armageddon: If you're into walking the fine line between chaos and control, plan on a trip to San Francisco to check out Survival Research Lab's latest techno-potlatch performance. On May 28 Mark Pauline and more than 100 volunteers will take about 80,000 square feet and fill it with menacing machines that only a lunatic could love. To get more info on this exploding melange of steel, microchips, and military hardware (which is co-sponsored

What Are You Driving?: A recent article in Forbes points out that there is US$782 worth of microelectronics in the average car, but only $675 worth of steel.

April Fools: Those nutty hackers over at MindVox played a joke on themselves for April Fools: When Vox's mostly New York-based users logged on April 1, they were greeted with the welcome screen for Northern California's Well service. That's kind of like popping in the latest Pearl Jam disc and getting the first few bars of the Grateful Dead's "Sugar Magnolia."

Whatta Role Model: It had to happen. Barbie is now a video game. From the press release: "Young girls can now interact with Barbie in her quest to become the hottest of super models in Hollywood, New York, Aspen, and Hawaii. Challenges, surprises, and bonus rounds await Barbie, and young girls, in each location!" And in "Barbie Game Girl," Barbie "discovers mysterious and powerful charms and makes new friends – all while trying to find her way to the top of the 'mall maze' to meet Ken for a date under the moonlight!" Wouldn't it be great if they made video games for girls that didn't suck?

Standing up to Bill: Bill Gates wants China's Ministry of Electronics Industry to support Windows as a Chinese standard, but the Ministry has refused to do so. Indeed, the Ministry has discouraged software developers from using Windows. This has Bill hopping mad. "Microsoft Windows is known around the world," he huffed to the NYT after talks failed with Beijing. Hmmmm, might that have something to do with it, Bill?

Lighten Up, Carl: Remember when we reported on Carl Sagan's new nickname over at Apple Computer (for your edification, it was "butthead astronomer." Apple developers had code-named a secret new computer "Sagan," only to be threatened by Sagan's lawyers that the use of his name on a product, even in prototype stage, was infringement). Well, ol' Carl's now suing Apple for libel, claiming that the "butthead astronomer" moniker is defamatory and subjects him to "hatred, contempt, ridicule, and obloquy." The Wall Street Journal pointed out that the outcome of the case will hinge on the definition of "butthead." Thanks for helping us understand, Carl.

The Growing Old Market: On Prodigy and CompuServe alone, there are more than 200,000 subscribers over the age of 55, according to an article in the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times.

More numbers: NBC Nightly News estimates there are at least 7.8 million telecommuters in the US alone.

At It Again: Noted system-jammer John Gilmore has filed another Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) claim, this one aimed squarely at the foibles of the government's Clipper Chip encryption standard. Gilmore has requested the database of encryption keys from the Treasury Department and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the two Clipper escrow agents. Of course, the request is absurd on its face (why would the government voluntarily give up information that would effectively invalidate Clipper- encrypted communications?), but as with most things Gilmore, there's a deeper logic. He explains on the Cypherpunk mailing list: "There appears to be no FOIA exemption that would justify withholding the key escrow databases which Treasury and NIST are building. (The keys are not tied to any individual, so individual privacy isn't a valid exemption. The database isn't classified.)" Here's the wonderful rub: If the escrow agents deny his request, claiming the contents are classified, then police agents have no right to see them either.

They Can Dish It Out…: Following Kuwait, China, and Saudi Arabia's lead, Iran has banned all satellite dishes. Next stop, France.

What're They Smoking Over There?: The usually staid business pages of The New York Times are starting to spunk up, particularly when it comes to articles covering the infosuperhypeway. An story detailing a failed alliance between AT&T and Microsoft, brokered in part by Craig McCaw of McCaw Cellular, was headlined "Microsoft and AT&T Confess to a 3-Month Fling." The entendre-laden subhead: "Craig McCaw plays matchmaker. Or does he want a threesome?"

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